The admiral of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy declared in Hong Kong media
Accelerating its military power, China did not deny the speculation that the fourth aircraft carrier currently under construction will be nuclear-powered. A senior officer of the Chinese Navy confirmed that the fourth aircraft carrier is under construction and announced that related information will be released soon.
On the 6th, Hong Kong Commercial Daily reported that it asked the admiral of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, Yuan Yubai, a representative of the National People’s Congress of China (NPC), “The outside world is closely watching the situation of China’s fourth aircraft carrier,” and “Some are speculating that the delay in announcing the details is due to technical bottlenecks (defects).”
In response, political commissar Yuan said, “There are no technical bottlenecks in the Chinese aircraft carrier under construction.” According to Chinese media, he said whether the fourth aircraft carrier is nuclear-powered will be “announced very soon.”
Experts note that the Chinese Navy’s leadership did not deny that the fourth aircraft carrier is being built as a nuclear-powered carrier. Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers use nuclear power as fuel and can operate for a long time without refueling. Commissar Yuan emphasized again that “the construction of China’s aircraft carrier is not to catch up with the United States but to defend national sovereignty and territorial stability and protect national interests.”
China currently has three aircraft carriers: the first, Liaoning; the second, Shandong; and the third and first, catapult-type Fujian. All of them are conventionally powered (diesel) aircraft carriers. The Fujian is an aircraft carrier designed using Chinese technology.
The South China Morning Post reported in early 2021 that China’s fourth aircraft carrier will be built as China’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. Although there have been only speculations since then, the existence of the fourth aircraft carrier has been somewhat confirmed based on Commissar Yuan’s remarks. China plans to secure six aircraft carriers by 2035, form at least four aircraft carrier fleets by 2030, and foster the world’s second ocean navy after the United States. In this regard, the Chinese Ministry of Finance announced in the NPC business report on the 5th that it had set the defense budget at approximately 231 billion 386 million 9,150,700 dollars, an increase of 7.2% from last year.
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